Former Savills director considered suicide
HEALTH AND WELLBEING: Former Savills investment director James Crawford has told how depression took him to his lowest point in 2015, when he didn’t expect to see out the year.
As his illness took hold, the highly successful investment agent found himself questioning whether he could take his own life. He had walked along railway lines when he took his dogs out and had also carried a piece of rope around with him for months
“I had always been in control of everything I did. Depression is a complete loss of control. It is frightening. I felt complete desolation and despair and I had no idea how to get out of it,” he said.
HEALTH AND WELLBEING: Former Savills investment director James Crawford has told how depression took him to his lowest point in 2015, when he didn’t expect to see out the year.
As his illness took hold, the highly successful investment agent found himself questioning whether he could take his own life. He had walked along railway lines when he took his dogs out and had also carried a piece of rope around with him for months
“I had always been in control of everything I did. Depression is a complete loss of control. It is frightening. I felt complete desolation and despair and I had no idea how to get out of it,” he said.
Crawford, 53, has since recovered and is part of a new team of industry ambassadors recruited by industry charity Lionheart to raise awareness of mental ill health in the property sector and to help end the stigma attached to mental ill health.
He was speaking about his experience at the John O’Halloran Symposium organised by Lionheart, which took place in London yesterday to coincide with Mental Health Awareness week.
Crawford worked at Savills for 16 years before he joined Cushman & Wakefield as a partner in 2013. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the central London property market, advising on major deals including St Martins’ acquisition of 5 Canada Square, E14, and the assembly of 80 Fenchurch Street, EC3.
“I got headhunted to join Cushmans, but I only got to week five,” he said.
His depression had started some time earlier. Crawford, who had been in the army for 10 years, said there were a number of triggers. In particular, he had been a victim of fraudster Elliott Short, the self-styled “King of Betfair” who had conned Crawford and several others out of £400,000 with boasts of huge returns which never materialised. Short was convicted of nine counts of fraud in 2013.
Crawford said that long working hours and the ill-health of a relative had also contributed to the onset of his depression.
He suffered memory loss, loss of motivation, weight loss, chronic sleep loss and was anxious about everything. His body gradually shut down.
It took some time to find the right treatment. He went to his GP, but didn’t hit it off with the psychiatrist he was referred to. A stay at a specialist hospital also did not help. It was only when Cushmans’ doctor referred him to the psychiatrist Raj Persaud that Crawford found an approach to treatment that worked for him. The key elements were establishing a sleep routine combined with the right medication.
Crawford took six months off work to recover and subsequently left Cushmans. He has since set up his own business, Mackenzie Crawford, and said he is well and enjoying life again. The father of two will celebrate his 27th wedding anniversary next week.
Sleep, exercise and limiting alcohol and caffeine are key for him. “It is important to try to enjoy everything you do and slow down,” he said.
“The hardest thing is recognising the symptoms [of mental ill health]. I left it far too late.”
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